Mumbai: Meet the 42-year-old runner, Rahul Jadhav. A former druggie pledged to himself to complete a run from Mumbai’s Gateway of India to New Delhi’s India Gate, as part of The DeAddiction Ultra Run. He began his sojourn on February 1, 2019 and completed the run in less than 20 days—19 days and a few hours to be precise.
Jadhav took to running as a hobby and a casual runner to use his time ad energy positively. With the passage of time, he started enjoying it. Before the Mumbai-Delhi run, he started running daily from Nariman Point to Nallasopara, a distance of 80 kms, carrying a bag on his back containing electral powder, water, fruit juices and the things he might require during the training.
Sharing his experience, Jadhav said the credit goes to people who helped him achieve his goal of taking part and completing the run successfully. “My boss, runner and counsellor Manoj Rane and family helped me reach my goal. Today, I have fulfilled my dream. Today, I have earned a name for myself as an athlete. My friends and family are proud of me.
I have regained the confidence to live a happy and a healthy life,” Jadhav said. His diet consisted of four eggs, six bananas, 6-7 dates apart from dry fruits, milk with protein powder in the morning. In the lunch, he ate dal khichdi, curd and paneer. Throughout the day while running, he kept him rehydrated.
The group that Jadhav started his run included three awareness volunteers from Muktangan and a physiotherapist. On day one, Jadhav started at 6am from the Gateway of India. He did 5kms in one go, then half a km walk. In this way, Jadhav covered 90 kms and reached Halloli in Palghar district on day one. In the evening, he retired in a lodge. During the run, he started his day at 8.30am and ran till 9 pm taking short intervals in-between.
During the runathon of hope and inspiration, on day six, when Jadhav was in Rajasthan, he started to face problems. He hurt himself due to rough terrain, which resulted in losing his balance and stumbling. He got cramps in his feet. Jadhav was in extreme pain, and could run for 15 kms only. On the next day, he ran for 60 kms.
After recovery, he started to run with the same pace and covered same distance as before. Jadhav faced extreme exhaustion with swollen legs. Pain killers were not allowed, so body massages were his reliever and an hour of hot-water shower relaxation. Stretching exercises and yoga rescued him.
Jadhav said he worked very hard to achieve this feat. He slept for four hours a day. His FB friends boosted his morale whenever he felt low. It took him over 19 days to complete the run. Finally, when Jadhav reached India Gate, he was proud of himself on accomplishing the mission impossible. Now, people know him as an athlete and not as a goonda or druggie in a rehab.